One of the water-closets in the basement is very frequently in an exceedingly improper position--either in the scullery or actually in the kitchen. These w.c.’s ought all to be outside the house.
If closets are in the middle of the house they ought to be done away with, and should be put against an outside wall. This might be done by sacrificing a bit of some room which can be spared, or by converting some small bedroom into a bath-room and closet, or still better, by making a sort of tower outside the house.
The merits and demerits of the various kinds of water-closet were discussed in a paper by Emptage before the Congress of the Sanitary Institute at Glasgow. To be rightly considered wholesome and adapted for general use, a closet should, in Emptage’s opinion, possess the following qualifications:--
1st. The water seal of its trap should be in sight, should stand up in the basin, and be quite safe from either momentum or siphonage.
2nd. It should be so thoroughly flushed that at each discharge every part of the basin and trap would be properly cleansed.
3rd. It should be as well adapted for the discharge of slops as for a w.c.
A closet possessing these advantages is perfectly safe to use anywhere, and the only kind which, in his opinion, comes up to this standard, is that known as the “direct action.” Within the last few years several inventors have turned their attention to the manufacture of this kind of closet, and there are now several in the market to choose from, each of which has some advantage peculiar to itself.
1st. That these closets, when properly trapped, flushed, and ventilated, are perfectly safe and wholesome, and are free from the evils and annoyances attendant upon most other forms.
2nd. That to ensure a thorough flush out, the water must fall with an avalanche-like action direct upon the surface of the water in the basin.
3rd. That those basins which show an O G section are more readily flushed than those which have sides in the form of inclined planes.
4th. That with a suitably shaped basin 2 gal. of water, delivered in 5 seconds, will thoroughly cleanse the closet.
5th. That the ordinary round P or half S trap should never be used beneath these closets, because no reliance can be placed upon the safety of its seal.